Donald Cerrone Puts His Old Gym on Blast, Things Get Ugly

Joe Rogan must have mind-powers. Whenever a fighter appears on his podcast, they talk and talk and reveal things from the deepest, darkest depths of their psyche. Case in point: UFC star Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Ol’ Cowboy appeared on the podcast and essentially took a giant crap on his former (but long-time) gym, Jackson/Winklejohn.

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The conflict came to a head when Cerrone said he was essentially pushed out of the gym when Winkeljohn chose to train his upcoming opponent, Mike Perry (12-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC), for a bout at UFC Fight Night 139.

“(Winkeljohn called me and) says, ‘You know what, I thought about it and if we don’t have Perry, then I don’t get paid, and I need to get paid for this,’” Cerrone said. “Basically tells me I’m no longer welcome in the gym.”

Winkeljohn disputed the notion that Cerrone is no longer welcome, but he defended his decision to work with Perry. He claimed Cerrone’s behavior since starting his own gym, the BMF Ranch, has caused a deep rift at Jackson Wink.

Winkeljohn said Cerrone has for several years drawn training partners and coaches away from the gym to train at BMF, but hasn’t contributed to Jackson Wink as a consistent team presence.

“Loyalty is two sides,” the coach told MMAjunkie. “‘Cowboy’ is not loyal to anybody in the gym. He’s on his own. He does his own thing. He has not, from what I can remember in the last 10 years, ever helped anybody out with their own camp. He’s as narcissistic as they come.”

Of course, teammate Diego Sanchez has to chime in, adding more seasoning to this boiling stew.